Reed in North Carolina: Are One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected really doing a crossover?
Yes, it’s true! Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and Mia (Kate Voegele) will swing by to see Cate (Shiri Appleby) at the radio station for some nice crossover love on the Oct. 12 episode of LUX. I’m told the CW execs are hoping to get the OTH crowd fully sucked into LUX—as you should be!

Enough Chuck and Blair! I want the goods on Rufus and Lily, the best couple on television. What’s up for them thi season? Also, is Michele Trachtenberg going to be a regular?
I’m told that Michele is not a series regular, though we’ll definitely be seeing her in the beginning of the season, obviously. And as for Rufus and Lily, not a whole lot of major action going on there in the beginning of the season. But stay tuned!

Drew: Is the baby really Dan’s on Gossip Girl? Will Jenny Humphrey be back?
No comment re: the baby. But think about it! As for Little J, yes, she will return.

Anything good coming up on Gossip Girl?
Well, when I asked a good show source if there’s hope for Chuck and Blair he said “Of course,” so take that for what you will. Meanwhile, in real life, our very own Hollywood Party Girl is reporting at Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick have reunited into full-fledged coupledom. Guess he doesn’t really care that just last week, Jessica was swapping spit with another gal (and we know this little gem thanks in large part to our partner in crime Marc Malkin). I wish Kristen Bell‘s voice was narrating all this cause it’d be far more fascinating…

The winners of each of these–except for the returning characters question–will face-off against the eventual winners in the Gossip Girl and 90210 polls.

FAVORITE CHARACTERS

Winners: Brooke, Nathan

Noteworthy: Although I noticed Brooke easily winning in the beginning, in the end the results were neck-and-neck with Haley earning 44 percent of the vote to Brooke’s 48.6 percent. For the first day or so, Quinn didn’t have any votes but by the end, she scrounged up 7, but not enough to beat Alex. Nathan won by a landslide, garnering 73.1 percent of the votes.

Last Season’s Winners: Brooke, Lucas

Thoughts: I can’t say I’m surprised that Nathan won or that Brooke did, but it’s a little strange not seeing Haley next to Nathan’s name. Nathan and Haley, in my opinion, are so intertwined, so it’s surprising to me that one won but the other didn’t. Like Quinn, Clay came in last. Granted the number of voters is a minuscule amount of One Tree Hill’s audience, but perhaps this is an indication of where some would like season 8 to go…or not go.

FAVORITE COUPLE

Winner: Nathan and Haley

Noteworthy: Naley received more than 2.5 times more votes than Brulian.

Last Season’s Winner: Lucas and Peyton

Thoughts: So, individually, voters prefer Nathan and Brooke but couples-wise, Nathan’s pairing trumps Brooke’s. I don’t quite get it. There was some love for Clay and Quinn (13 votes) and Clay and Sara (8 votes).

WORST CHARACTERS

Winners: Alex, Clay

Noteworthy: Clay received the majority of the vote, while Alex and Quinn were pretty close: 51.1 percent versus 41.3 percent.

Last Season’s Winners: Peyton, Lucas

Thoughts: It was no surprise to me that Clay would win this category (and it’s sad to say “win” here because it’s not a positive thing) when he was stacked up against Nathan and Julian, who, if nothing else, have been around for more than 22 episodes. I was surprised, however, to see Alex “beat” Quinn (and therefore really lost), given the results of the first poll, where a few more voted for Alex than Quinn as best character. Perhaps the difference can be attributed to the fact that the first poll had more votes cast in it. Maybe if more people voted in this poll, Quinn would’ve earned the dishonor just as she did in the first poll? Of course, I’m still perplexed by last year’s results on this one (where Leyton were named worst characters but also best couple) so what do I know?

WORST COUPLE

Winner: Clay and Sara

Noteworthy: Clay and Quinn were the runner-up, but still a decent ways behind.

Last Season’s Winner: Brooke and Owen

Thoughts: This one kind of disappointed me. I wasn’t surprised that Naley or Brulian got some votes–not everyone is a fan–but Clay and Sara in episode 7.07, I And Love And You was quite possibly the highlight of the season for me. Certainly the Katie storyline tarnished it a bit and maybe it did for others, too, leading to the worst couple title.

FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

Winner: Jamie

Noteworthy: Most of the contenders got 3 percent of the vote or less.

Last Season’s Winner: Jamie

Thoughts: Jamie took this title two seasons in a row (I did not have the site during season 5, his first season on the show) and I’m kind of surprised. Maybe I’m biased, since I mostly haven’t dug him this season. I guess I expected Dan to win, despite his absence from the second-half of the season.

FAVORITE RETURNING CHARACTER

Winner: Rachel

Noteworthy: Last year, some people wrote in Rachel as their answer to this question, even though she wasn’t eligible since she didn’t appear in season 6. Bet those people were happy she did appear this season!

Last Season’s Winner: Karen

Thoughts: Figured this category would really be a toss-up, as I easily saw any of the candidates winning. While I was far from completely happy with Rachel, Taylor or Lydia’s storylines, I think all three actresses kicked major butt.

BEST STORYLINE

Winner: Lydia’s return and death from cancer

Noteworthy: Haley’s depression came in second, with less than 10 votes separating it from first place. The next highest was Brulian’s relationship followed by the Nathan/Renee scandal. Many things got one vote but among the more interesting picks (read: slightly puzzling) to me were Grubbs, Brooke dealing with Alexander/Victoria and “the entire 80’s episode. Only quality episode all season, besides the final.” There was also one person who said “none” and another who wrote “All of them!!! They were amazing this year :)”

Invalid Others: Lucas and Peyton, the school shooting, Jamie’s birth and season 3

Last Season’s Winner: Leyton’s relationship

Thoughts: It amuses me and frustrates me when people don’t follow the instructions–answers are to be based only on the season that just ended. (Not to mention some people selecting the wrong choice and not writing anything in at all.) Not sure what the two voters who said Lucas and Peyton meant–happy they’re gone or thinking about a past season? The Jamie’s birth one made me laugh. And perhaps those that put the schooling shooting and season 3 were thinking about the show overall, as I definitely understand those picks in that context. Anyway, Haley clearly dominated in this poll, between the depression storyline, Lydia’s death and votes for how Nathan’s scandal affecting Naley, plus picks for her pregnancy and one for her album…and yet she didn’t manage to win best female character.

WORST STORYLINE

Winner: Psycho Katie

Noteworthy: The second highest was the Nathan/Renee scandal, which I guess, given the previous question, split many viewers. In third was Julian and Alex’s interactions and how it affected Brulian. Again, many things got single votes including Nathan and Julian’s “KISS” scene, the overall focus on the guest/new characters and the Mouth/Lauren/Skills triangle. And, of course, there were a couple “none” and “all”-type votes.

Thoughts: As someone who has a lot of beef with this season, the results here were like a giant love letter to me. It was reassuring to see many shared my same gripes, such as the rest of Haley’s siblings being MIA during Lydia’s death, Leyton’s absence (I think it was put best in this answer: “Peyton and Lucas not being there for the friends when they needed them”), Grubbs/Miranda and the misuse of Dan and Rachel.

BEST CLIFF-HANGER

Winner: Clay and Quinn getting shot

Noteworthy: The next highest results were actually what many considered to be happy (resolved?) endings: Naley’s pregnancy and Brulian’s proposal. There were some genuinely interesting answers (read: clever and/or frank): “Not much this season held my interest. Big disappointment from season’s past,” “By a long shot (no pun intended) Quinn,” “Will they kill off yawn-a-minute Quinn and keep Clay alive?” and “Would the show be renewed.”

Invalid Others: Season 3’s ending, Lucas’ proposal, if Leyton are coming back

Last Season’s Winner: Peyton’s health scare(s)

Thoughts: I expected Alex’s suicide attempt to garner more than 3 votes, but perhaps that’s just because I thought the scene was pretty awesomely done. I was surprised to see a vote for Mia and Chase (will they or won’t they get back together is really your biggest unanswered question?) and more pleasantly surprised to see a vote for Haley finding Renee’s phone number on Nathan’s phone bills.

RATE THE SEASON OVERALL

Winner: 8

Noteworthy: There were just 6 votes between “7” and “8.” Every value got at least 3 votes.

Last Season’s Winner: 8

Thoughts: For a while, if I recall correctly, there weren’t votes for 9 or 10 but those ended up earning a fair amount. I have to admit the 10 votes throw me off. It’s surprising to me that some think this season was just as good or better than past seasons as, in my opinion, it was just a vastly different show this year. But I guess it’s totally fair for it to be vastly different and people to like it.

RATE THE SHOW OVERALL

Winner: 10

Noteworthy: Won with a larger margin than the last question, more than doubling the votes that “9” got. Every value got at least 2 votes.

Last Season’s Winner: 10

Thoughts: Last year One Tree Hill was the only show to earn a 10 here. It remains to be seen whether that’ll happen again…

All but two one teen dramas have main characters who are also musicians/singers.

On Beverly Hills 90210, we got our first real taste of David’s musical inclinations in season 3 when he started recording his own music and later performing at the Beverly Hills Beach Club. The storyline continued for a decent part of the season with David nearly having a record deal. At the end of season 4, David got a taste of the music life again when he toured with real-life musician Babyface. In season 8, David joined the band Jasper’s Law for a short time, which introduced us to “Keep It Together”–which I absolutely loved and still do. In an episode in the tenth season, Janet reunited with college friends and played the bass at the After Dark.

On Dawson’s Creek, Joey’s vocal talents were first revealed in season one when she performs a moving rendition of “Own My Own” for a beauty pageant. In the fifth season, Joey played with a band featuring Chad Michael Murray’s Charlie. After a few gigs, he asked her to come on tour but she declined. In the next season, Audrey fronts an all-female rock band but as her drinking spirals out of control, she has no choice but to give it up. Near the end of the series, we get one more performance from her: a beautiful, understated and haunting performance of Zakk Wylde’s “Way Beyond Empty.”

One Tree Hill has had the most musical characters by far, showcasing the talents of recurring character Jake and, more notably, Haley in the first season. Haley’s music career was a big storyline in season 2, where she performed–among other things–a duet, “When The Stars Go Blue,” with Chris Keller and later toured with him and real-life band The Wreckers. Haley gave up music for a while, though we saw her perform with another real-life band, Enation, in season 6. There’s a bigger focus on Haley’s music in the first half of season 7, where Haley has released an album and toured again, performing songs that were actually created by Bethany Joy Galeotti’s band Everly. Season 5 and season 7 introduced two more musically-inclined characters, Mia and Grubbs, but they weren’t main characters.

90210 also featured musical performances very early on with Annie and Adrianna being in the school production of Spring Awakening. Earlier this season, Adrianna serenaded Navid and has since started taking music quite seriously, writing and recording songs and performing with pop sensation, Javier, who is played by real-life musician Diego Boneta. Their duet, as far as I know, doesn’t have known title, but is called “One More Time” and I absolutely love it, and Jessica Lowndes most recently performed two of her own songs.

The O.C. and Gossip Girl have both featured real-life musical artists and the GG cast even has some who are building a music career, but neither show The O.C. hasn’t had actual main characters who were performers.

As noted below by Misty and Alyssa, there are two I left out: Beverly Hills 90210’s Ray and Gossip Girl’s Rufus.

Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills 90210) had a “live Twitterview” today, taking questions via Twitter “about healthy eating, veggies, parenting, + more.” You can check out her Twitter feed to see her answers. (Not entirely helpful without the questions but you get the gist.) There’s one vague reference to BH90210.

KENS5, a news station in San Antonio, has a video interview with Kate Voegele (Mia, One Tree Hill). I kind of loved it.

About 200 artists are heard on One Tree Hill each season, according to the show’s music supervisor, Lindsay Wolfington. Of that 200, only a tiny portion are seen on-screen. A few easily come to mind…Fall Out Boy…Kate Voegele…Mike Grubbs. But what made the use of Enation particularly unique is that its first song on the show, “Feel This,” wasn’t sung by the band but by Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley).

After Galeotti’s character performed the song during the season 5 finale (Episode 5.18, What Comes After The Blues), the band performed onstage with Galeotti as she sang it again in season 6 during the USO concert (Episode 6.10, Even Fairytale Characters Would Be Jealous), which also featured Voegele (Mia) and the band Angels & Airwaves. Enation, which features Jonathan Jackson (yes, that Jonathan Jackson), Richard Lee Jackson, Michael Galeotti, Luke Galeotti and Daniel Sweatt, also had their song “World In Flight” played in that episode.

I recently spoke with Jonathan Jackson on the phone and caught up with Richard Lee Jackson and Luke Galeotti via e-mail. In our interviews, the band discussed the effect One Tree Hill has had on them, their plans for the future and using social media to connect with their fans.

TeenDramaWhore: First of all, I want to congratulate you. I heard you have another baby on the way.

Jonathan Jackson: Yes, I do. Thank you. We’re excited.

TDW: I also have to commend you for the unbelievable job you did not too long ago on General Hospital in the scenes where Lucky confronts Elizabeth and Nikolas.

Jackson: Oh, cool. Thank you.

TDW: We all know that you have an obscene amount of talent but those were just breathtaking.

Jackson: Thank you so much. That’s awesome.

TDW: I don’t know if you can say but were those in your Emmy reel?

Jackson: Well, those are for 2010. If I’m nominated next year, then I’ll be sending those scenes in.

TDW: The cut-off dates always throw me for a loop.

Jackson: The ones [for the upcoming Emmys are from] ‘09 and that particular episode aired in January of 2010. So that won’t come around til next year.

TDW: Oh, wow. So even though you filmed it before January, it matters when it airs.

Jackson: Yes.

TDW: Gotcha. Switching over to Enation, some bands would say being featured on a teen soap like One Tree Hill or even a daytime soap like General Hospital is cheesy or selling out. But Enation has obviously embraced it. Why is this the route you thought was good for you guys?

Jackson: Well, there’s a few reasons. One is we’re friends with Bethany Joy Galeotti and Michael, who’s our keyboard player in the band, is married to her. So it was a friendship and a relational connection that specifically got us excited about doing something for One Tree Hill. And just in terms of the basic idea of placing songs on TV shows, we’ve always been for that. Especially as an independent band, when you don’t have a giant label pushing your music on radio, that’s sort of a different way to reach a wide audience. One Tree Hill has a really strong following and we thought it would be a great way to get our music out there and exposed to more people.

TDW: The fans who were uninitiated to Enation before One Tree Hill, did their enthusiasm surprise you at all?

Jackson: It really did. We had no idea that the music would catch on like it did. It’s been pretty cool. And the song that we did with Bethany Joy was really cool. People really connected with that song. It was a real personal song for me about redemption. It was neat to see people really connect with it.

TDW: For your appearance on the show, what differences did you notice between filming One Tree Hill, a primetime show, and General Hospital, a daytime soap? I know the processes are a bit different, right?

Jackson: Primetime shows that shoot on film are pretty different than daytime. Daytime is sort of a hybrid between theater and film in the sense that on General Hospital you have four cameras that are shooting at once. One Tree Hill usually does one camera at a time, which is more of the traditional film style. You do multiple takes from a bunch of the different angles over the course of the day. On General Hospital you basically do the scene once and they catch it with four different cameras and you move on to the next scene. As an actor, it’s pretty different. But I grew up doing films and other TV shows as well so I’m pretty used to the different styles that people do.

TDW: Was it an added challenge to be filming something with the musical component? Because you weren’t filming something as an actor, like you usually are.

Jackson: It was cool, actually. It was fun. I had never really experienced it from a different angle like that. It was cool to be part of the filming but not be one of the actors, per se, and just be one of the musicians. It was cool to see it from a different perspective and it was fun to partner with Bethany and see what happened. The USO thing was really cool, too, because the people were amazing. Just to be able to support something like that meant a lot to us.

TDW: I know Enation and [Galeotti’s band with Amber Sweeney] Everly recently booked a gig for August at the Corn Palace. Will other joint dates be announced?

Jackson: As soon as we get ‘em, we’ll announce ‘em. That’s definitely a possibility. It works out perfectly for us just because we’re all really good friends. Our music is different but it sort of complements each other well and there’s crossing of audiences with One Tree Hill and General Hospital. So I think it’s possible we’ll do more dates.

TDW: When you guys perform together, do you collaborate on-stage, too? Like, do you perform Feel This together?

Jackson: We’re sort of talking about that right now, how we’re going to arrange all that stuff. We’ve done small acoustic shows where we’ve done that but this is probably the first full-on, full-length show that we’re doing together so we’re talking now about how we’re going to execute everything.

TDW: In Enation, you & Richard are brothers and Michael & Luke are brothers. What is the benefit of working with your siblings?

Jackson: Well, for Richard and I, it’s awesome. Most of the creative things we do in our lives, we do together, whether it’s writing scripts or playing music. All that kind of stuff. It’s great. He’s an incredible drummer and producer. We work really well together. And I think it’s fun for Luke and Michael as well. It’s just nice when you’re traveling and touring to have your brother there and feel like somebody’s got your back. But we feel like that with Dano as well. We’re sort of a band of brothers.

TDW: I like that phrase. How do you find time for everything? You have the music, you’re doing other projects with your brother, you have two kids, and you have an immensely popular but very time-intensive daytime series. How do you fit it all in?

Jackson: It’s pretty tough. It’s pretty crazy. I don’t know. You just do your best to prioritize. For instance, I’m not working on GH this week so I’m up in Washington and we’re working on music. When I have downtime at night, I spend a lot of that time writing screenplays and books and stuff like that. Whenever I’m not doing one of those creative things, I’m doing another. Also prioritizing time with my wife and kids is something I work really hard at, trying to put that time before all the creative stuff.

TDW: You guys have increasingly been using Facebook and Twitter to interact with fans. It’s one more thing to do but it’s opened up opportunities to have relationships with fans that you didn’t necessarily have before.

Jackson: I know. It’s been a transition, probably, over the last five years to incorporate more of that stuff. It’s really important, especially, like I said, as a band when you’re doing some stuff independently. There’s a fun creative process of just dreaming about how you can stay connected with people and let them get to know what you’re about and what the music is about. We’ve been doing an online magazine, Enation Magazine. I think we’ve done five or six issues, and that’s been really cool because it gives people a really in-depth picture of some of the music and some of our experiences. But Twitter and Facebook have been great.

TDW: Last question, and I know it might be an impossible one to answer. If you had to choose one for the rest of your career–doing TV, making movies or playing music–which would you go with?

Jackson: Yeah, that probably is impossible. I think between the three, I’d probably try to hold on to a combination of making films and still playing music with the band. Maybe we could make films and then score the soundtracks. That would be cool.

Q & A with Enation’s Richard Lee Jackson and Luke Galeotti

TeenDramaWhore: How has the association with One Tree Hill changed your “knownness” factor?

Richard Lee Jackson: Being on One Tree Hill has increased our exposure in a big way. Not only were we able to play in front of the live USO crowd of over 3,000 people the night our show was filmed, but we were also seen by the millions of fans who watch the show once it aired. We’ve had over 100,000 people download the version of “Feel This” we did with Bethany Joy, which is now our biggest-selling song. There were also over 100,000 people all over the world who watched a YouTube video focusing on the lyrics to “Feel This”––which as a co-writer of the song makes me feel pretty great! We want that message of hope, beauty, and redemption to get heard, and One Tree Hill was a big part of that happening.

Luke Galleotti: Well for me, playing on One Tree Hill was the first time I’ve really been around “Fame” and I got an interesting new perspective on why I am playing music. Fame is very overrated but at the same time it can be used to influence a lot of people. So, I guess what that whole experience showed me was that what I really want for me and my music is to be content being me and bless a lot of people along the way.

TDW: What was the most surprising thing about filming your appearance on One Tree Hill?

RLJ: For me, the most surprising part was how involved the USO really was. The men and women on the base there in [North Carolina] were the ones who actually built the stage where the concert was performed on. They were so inviting, so happy for us to be there. We were the ones who were honored to serve them any way we could, but their hearts were so filled with gratitude. They put their lives on the line for us, and here they are thanking us for showing up and playing a concert. We told them, from the stage, anywhere we could, how thankful we were for their sacrifice and service.

LG: I was surprised that the cast and crew were everyday normal people. For me, I had a totally different view on how things worked and how people acted in the industry but when it was all said and done, we are all just people. I really enjoyed hanging out with everyone. There are a lot of great people on that set.

TDW: What’s the one TV show you would love to have an Enation song on?

RLJ: Lost. No question for me. That’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. They’ve had some really great music sequences, too.

LG: I don’t watch a lot of TV but it would be fun to hear our songs on the shows I do watch–Lost, Chuck and/or The Legend of the Seeker.

TDW: Who would play each of you in the movie version of Enation’s career?

LG: Hmm, that’s a tough one. I think I would nominate Enation to play Enation. I don’t know anyone who is better at being us than, well, us.

TDW: What’s next for the band?

RLJ: We are continuing to promote our recent albums, “World In Flight” and our first ever live album, “The Future Is A Memory.” We are also working on our next album, which at this point is at the “throwing paint on the canvas” stage. We don’t know what it will look like yet. We have some shows lined up for the summer and we’re still looking to book more. Those dates should be released pretty soon for our fans. We are always interacting with our fans, making our Enation Magazine for the Enation Army members, and we love keeping in touch through Twitter and Facebook. Our biggest desire is to continue to be who we are, making great music that we hope connects with people. We want to look back and be really proud of the catalogue of music we have.

LG: Well, I hope to work on building a strong fan base in the northwest and seeing what opens up from there. For me, it’s not about where we go or how far we go. It’s about us being together.